Mammootty's 'CBI 5' based on 'Basket Killings' starts rolling

Work on the fifth Malayalam film in the immensely popular 'CBI' franchise, the first part of which was a superhit called Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, began with a traditional pooja in Ernakulam on Monday.

As in the case of all the earlier films from the franchise, this Malayalam film too is being directed by K Madhu and will feature Mammootty as the legendary Sethurama Iyer, an officer with the CBI.

So far, four installments of the CBI franchise have been made with K Madhu directing it and SN Swamy penning the script. Mammootty has played the lead character, an investigative officer called Sethurama Iyer in all the films. The movies include Oru CBI Diary Kuruppu (1988), Jagratha (1989), Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan CBI (2005).

Sources in the industry say that this time around, the plot of the film will revolve around the 'Basket Killings'. In an interview to the Times of India, SN Swamy said, “We had a meeting with Mammootty recently and he has suggested a few changes. One of the highlights of the film will be basket killings. I can’t reveal what it is right now, as it’s a suspense element.”

Apart from Mammootty, the film will also feature Asha Sharath, Renji Panicker and Mukesh among others.

The team has been trying to make the film for some time now. However, due to the pandemic, the filmmaking process had to be postponed. It is only now that the film has gone on floors.

Mammootty is expected to join the team by December 10 after he completes shooting for Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.